Concept Design of a Novel Bio-Inspired Drilling System for Shallow Drilling

As the exhaustion of resources used as existing energy such as petroleum and coal are approaching, interest in planning and research for finding new energy sources is on the rise. In addition, the use of existing energy sources is one of the main causes of environmental destruction. Energy demand is steadily increasing, and it is urgently needed to find alternative energy sources due to exhaustion and limitation of existing energy sources. The use of drilling technology is inevitable for exploring these new energy sources. However, existing drilling equipment and technologies have limitations due to the colossal size and complicated processes, and also cause environmental damage resulting from drilling wide area. Therefore, in this paper, to overcome these limitations, the mechanism of a compact excavating robot that mimics the anatomy and habit of digging animals is proposed. The proposed bio-inspired mechanism simulates the excavating and debris removing process of a ground-digging mole using its teeth and forelimbs. Finally, the stress generated by the module during excavation is analyzed and the design durability is verified through the simulation.